Generation of air temperature fluctuations by small-scale land-surface temperature irregularities

The results of simultaneous measurements of the characteristics of the atmo spheric surface layer (ASL) and small-scale surface temperature irregularit ies (SSSTIs) are given. The measurements were taken in Tsimlyansk (1993, 19 94) and in Zvenigorod (1996). An analysis of the obtained results shows tha t, in a number of cases, SSSTIs noticeably affect turbulence characteristic s and profiles T(z), which results in a noticeable disagreement between mea sured and calculated (on the basis of the similarity theory equations) valu es of the turbulent temperature fluxes [w'T']. The introduction of the dept h of the temperature displacement layer d(T) in the calculation formulas re sults in a markedly better agreement between the calculated and measured va lues of [w'T']. SSSTIs also affect the shape of the spectra of air temperat ure fluctuations.